I’ve been waiting on the following unveiling for a while and am impressed by the results, not to mention, the potential this offers for the future.
The folks at
Serotek
Have rolled out their latest accessibility tool.
As its name implies,
Accessible Event
Makes meetings, seminars, conferences, and other events where participation is contingent on the accessibility to all the participants, truly open to everybody.
You can check out the June 23
press Conference ,
which is, of course, presented as an Accessible Event.
And, if that isn’t enough and you’d like another demonstration of how this neat tool works, check out the Serotek demo of a
staff meeting.
This is a service Serotek is offering to people who have a need to make their program accessible. It is something that I can see a distinct need for for at colleges, universities, and even public schools. There are also the distinct commercial applications at trade shows and conventions. If you’re a presenter and want to sure accessibility, check out Accessible Event. It will provide the ultimate delivery of your message to all audience members.
Showing posts with label PowerPoint. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PowerPoint. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Another resource for creating accessible PowerPoint presentations
I was doing some follow-up research on the earlier post of creating accessible PowerPoint presentations when I came across the following informative site, hosted by Adobe, the parent company of the Macromedia Flash animation software.
Creating Accessible PowerPoint
The site gives specific suggestions on how to make PowerPoint presentations accessible to both blind and deaf people. I give them their props for having a good textual description of what they were explaining. It was very clear and to the point on how the creator can best meet the needs of both blind and deaf viewers of Power Point presentations.
If you lack either the time or interest to participate in the web training event discussed on Access Ability last week, then check out what Adobe has to say about creating accessible PowerPoint.
Again, the price of this resource is right-- absolutely free!
Creating Accessible PowerPoint
The site gives specific suggestions on how to make PowerPoint presentations accessible to both blind and deaf people. I give them their props for having a good textual description of what they were explaining. It was very clear and to the point on how the creator can best meet the needs of both blind and deaf viewers of Power Point presentations.
If you lack either the time or interest to participate in the web training event discussed on Access Ability last week, then check out what Adobe has to say about creating accessible PowerPoint.
Again, the price of this resource is right-- absolutely free!
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Free Web Conference: Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations
Being that I’m a blind computer user, it probably makes sense that one of my pet concerns is accessible computing and media. It makes no sense to live in a digital age, where, at least in theory, all material should be accessible without duplication of effort. We all know that this isn’t always the case. As technology evolves, so does material and, too often, it seems that access technology is following behind and trying to catch up with the pack. However, more than lapses in technology, it is lapses in attitude or the plain, old-fashioned, I didn’t think about those people,” that excludes students with disabilities from media presentations.
In a previous post, I mentioned that web offerings of the school need to be accessible. This accessibility includes on-line publications such as electronic versions of newspapers and newsletters as well as the different departmental websites. This line of thought needs to be taken a step further to include PowerPoint presentations, which have become integral to the learning environment.
Those ubiquitous PowerPoint presentations have become such a big part of the college learning experience that it has become almost mandatory that students have some mastery of using this Microsoft program by the time they graduate. There have been advances by the engineers at Microsoft in making the program itself accessible, but too often it is the content, not the application, which is not accessible, leaving students with disabilities out of the information loop.
How often are visually impaired students left to wonder what was presented in a PowerPoint slide show that offered visual support to a speaker’s program. With streaming audio becoming more and more involved as part of Powerpoint presentations, where does this leave deaf students?
With proactive attitudes, colleges and universities can embrace access as an integral part of media presentations. Schools should encourage and foster universal design by their faculty and staff. The DSS office can be the linking mechanism that brings together this enhanced awareness.
Just as with the previous post about accessible computing, I’m not one to complain without providing an alternative. I offer a good and again, free, resource for helping to resolve this problem.
EASI, Equal Access to Software and Information, is offering a free web conference on how to create narrated Powerpoint presentations and adding streaming captions. These two production aspects empower presenters to share their information to a broader audience.
*Creating Narrated PowerPoint and Adding Streaming Captions
*Date: Sept. 11, 2006
*Time 2 pm EDT
If interested, or to register, check out the EASI Clinic web page at:
http://easi.cc/clinic.htm
According to the clinic web site, interested parties must register to participate. Registration for an event provides not only live access to the event when it occurs live, but also gives you access to a recording of the conference that you can view at a later time. So, if you can’t make the presentation at the scheduled time and date, you can register before the event and still have access to a recording of it.
Remember, his is a free conference, so you have nothing to lose by registering. You can only gain by taking part of this program.
This conference is only one of a variety of offerings the group has planned. There are free ones, like the PowerPoint conference, as well as some more complex, multi-session programs which require a fee. Check out the group’s calendar and see if there is something coming up that can further the goal of presenting accessible programming to your students.
If you’re interested in learning more about EASI and what all they have to offer, check out the official home page at:
http://www.rit.edu/%7Eeasi/index.htm
(Note: Access Ability is not sponsored or affiliated by the organization discussed in the above post. The information is being offered on Access Ability merely as another resource to enhance further development of the DSS field.)
In a previous post, I mentioned that web offerings of the school need to be accessible. This accessibility includes on-line publications such as electronic versions of newspapers and newsletters as well as the different departmental websites. This line of thought needs to be taken a step further to include PowerPoint presentations, which have become integral to the learning environment.
Those ubiquitous PowerPoint presentations have become such a big part of the college learning experience that it has become almost mandatory that students have some mastery of using this Microsoft program by the time they graduate. There have been advances by the engineers at Microsoft in making the program itself accessible, but too often it is the content, not the application, which is not accessible, leaving students with disabilities out of the information loop.
How often are visually impaired students left to wonder what was presented in a PowerPoint slide show that offered visual support to a speaker’s program. With streaming audio becoming more and more involved as part of Powerpoint presentations, where does this leave deaf students?
With proactive attitudes, colleges and universities can embrace access as an integral part of media presentations. Schools should encourage and foster universal design by their faculty and staff. The DSS office can be the linking mechanism that brings together this enhanced awareness.
Just as with the previous post about accessible computing, I’m not one to complain without providing an alternative. I offer a good and again, free, resource for helping to resolve this problem.
EASI, Equal Access to Software and Information, is offering a free web conference on how to create narrated Powerpoint presentations and adding streaming captions. These two production aspects empower presenters to share their information to a broader audience.
*Creating Narrated PowerPoint and Adding Streaming Captions
*Date: Sept. 11, 2006
*Time 2 pm EDT
If interested, or to register, check out the EASI Clinic web page at:
http://easi.cc/clinic.htm
According to the clinic web site, interested parties must register to participate. Registration for an event provides not only live access to the event when it occurs live, but also gives you access to a recording of the conference that you can view at a later time. So, if you can’t make the presentation at the scheduled time and date, you can register before the event and still have access to a recording of it.
Remember, his is a free conference, so you have nothing to lose by registering. You can only gain by taking part of this program.
This conference is only one of a variety of offerings the group has planned. There are free ones, like the PowerPoint conference, as well as some more complex, multi-session programs which require a fee. Check out the group’s calendar and see if there is something coming up that can further the goal of presenting accessible programming to your students.
If you’re interested in learning more about EASI and what all they have to offer, check out the official home page at:
http://www.rit.edu/%7Eeasi/index.htm
(Note: Access Ability is not sponsored or affiliated by the organization discussed in the above post. The information is being offered on Access Ability merely as another resource to enhance further development of the DSS field.)
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